It can be seen that the installed terminals for payment by magnetic cards are poorly resistant to fraud. In the most frequent type of attack, an attacker obtains access to the electrical signals coming from the magnetic reading head of such a terminal by a simple electrical connection of a parasitic device. The information obtained during the reading of a magnetic card, possibly added to the PIN (personal identification number) code of the card, enables relatively easy fraudulence, given the ease with which this information is then copied into a new magnetic track. Indeed, numerous low-cost and freely available devices enable the creation of new magnetic cards with the desired information.
Thus, it is easy to obtain fraudulent, physical or virtual replicas of the payment cards read by an attacked payment terminal, and this can be done without the knowledge of the owner of the payment card used, the payment terminal manufacturer and the banking services with which the payment terminal is linked.
This problem has been singled out by the standardization organization PCI PTS, which, in its revision No. 3, reports an increase in “potential attacks” against signals from the magnetic head, and therefore recommends an increase in protection measures against fraudulence on the magnetic heads of such terminals.
Furthermore, while it is known that the installation of a parasitic device on the terminal can result in a temporary interruption of a signal output from the reading head of a terminal, it is nevertheless difficult to detect the presence of such a device once it is installed.
There is therefore a proven need for novel payment terminals that are adapted to the use of magnetic cards and give better protection to the possessors of magnetic payment cards.